Themes
Browse, activate, and configure your site's visual theme from the Themes panel.
TL;DR
Go to Admin → Themes. Click Activate on any theme to make it live. Click the gear icon to configure that theme's options. Pubvana ships with 9 themes: Default, Pubvana Dark, Cyborg, Darkly, Ember, Flatly, Lux, Sandstone, and Slate. More themes are available in the Marketplace.
Details
Theme List
The Themes panel lists every installed theme. Each card shows:
- A screenshot of the theme
- Theme name, version, and author
- An Active badge on the currently live theme
- An Activate button (hidden on the active theme)
- A gear icon to open that theme's options
Activating a Theme
Only one theme can be active at a time. When you activate a new theme, Pubvana:
- Marks the selected theme as active in the database.
- Syncs widget areas — new areas defined by the incoming theme are created; widget instances assigned to areas that no longer exist are preserved (they appear in an "Orphaned" area) so you do not lose configured widgets.
The site immediately reflects the new theme on the next public page load.
Theme Options
Each theme can expose configuration options defined in its theme_info.json file. Common options include:
show_sidebar(checkbox) — show or hide the sidebar columnfooter_copyright(text field) — copyright line displayed in the footer
Options are stored per-theme, so switching between themes preserves each theme's individual settings. Access options via the gear icon on the Themes page.
Built-in Themes
All 9 built-in themes are based on Bootstrap 5 and FontAwesome 6:
| Theme | Style |
|---|---|
| Default | Clean, minimal light theme |
| Pubvana Dark | Dark mode variant of the default |
| Cyborg | Dark high-contrast, neon accents |
| Darkly | Flat dark UI |
| Ember | Warm amber/orange tones |
| Flatly | Light flat design |
| Lux | Elegant serif-influenced light theme |
| Sandstone | Earthy tones, slightly textured |
| Slate | Dark blue-grey |
Installing Themes from the Marketplace
Additional themes can be installed directly from Admin → Marketplace. Free themes install with one click. Premium themes require a valid license key, which you can obtain from the Pubvana marketplace website.
Theme Licensing
Free themes (including all Pubvana-authored themes) activate without a license key.
Paid third-party themes require a license key. Enter your key in the License Key field on the admin Themes page and click Save. The key is validated against the theme author's licensing server. If validation fails, the theme cannot be activated.
Use the Recheck button to re-validate an existing license.
Disabled Themes
Themes with missing or invalid theme_info.json files are registered in the database but marked as disabled. A disabled badge and reason are shown on the admin Themes page. Disabled themes cannot be activated until the issue is resolved.